Kaldheim Season, Episode 9: Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty
When evaluating new cards, a quick hack is to look for anything that cheats on mana. These are the cards that can really do something special. Cheating out a 7 mana Tibalt? Yep, that tracks. Fistfuls of Treasure off Magda? Sign us up.
This week continues that trend. Birgi, God of Storytelling is a cost reducer dialed up to 11. Her front face resembles Baral, Chief of Compliance or Goblin Electromancer: mana engines that scale the more spells you cast. But Birgi is even more generous. Cards that cost 1 are completely free, and cards that cost zero actually send up you mana. Mishra’s Bauble becomes a ritual; Mox Amber becomes Seething Song.
Once you have this much mana, all you’re looking for is a source of cards. Birgi makes this easy as you please: just flip the card over and you have Harnfel, Horn of Bounty, a multi-use Magmatic Channeler that trades each card in your hand for two fresh ones. Standard players learned to fear the pairing of Runaway Steam-Kin and Experimental Frenzy; Birgi gives you both effects on the same card.
All told, Birgi is shockingly open-ended, capable of supporting existing engine decks or perhaps spawning new archetypes all her own. We’ve got seven lists to test across multiple formats, so let’s see what Birgi can do!
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Decklists for Birgi // Harnfel
Sketch 1: Boros Showdown Storm
Sketch 2: Temur Artifact Ramp
Sketch 3: Pioneer Song of Creation
Sketch 4: Modern Birgi Song
Sketch 5: Birgi Grinding Breach by Nilsfit (5-0 league)
Sketch 6: UR Prowess
Sketch 7: Birgi Waste Not
Flashback: Magda, Brazen Outlaw
Magda Jeskai Ascendancy: 1-4 league
Temur Treasures: 0-4 league
Jeskai Dwarf Tempo: 2-3 league
Aura of Dominion Combo: 2-3 league
